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Saturday, July 8, 2017

Harapan to seek conference of rulers' stance on CJ's appointment

PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said she will be consulting Pakatan Harapan on seeking clarification from the Conference of Rulers with regard to the appointment of Chief Justice Md Raus Sharif and Court of Appeal president Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin as additional judges to the Federal Court.

She noted that the Malaysian Bar, as well as retired senior judges, have opined that the appointment was unconstitutional.

"It is unclear at this point whether the rulers have indeed agreed with this very controversial move.

"I will be discussing this matter immediately with other Pakatan Harapan leaders with a view to making the appropriate appeals to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and the Conference of Rulers to take a firm position on this in accordance with the rule of law," she said in a statement today.

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) which announced the appointments yesterday said the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong was advised by the prime minister and in consultation with the Conference of Rulers under Article 122B(1) of the Federal Constitution.

However, the appointment of Md Raus and Zulkefli as additional judges were made under Article 122(1A) of the Federal Constitution which allows the chief justice to recommend to the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong the appointment of additional judges to the Federal Court.

The chief justice and Court of Appeal president are not allowed to serve beyond the age of 66 and six months and both Raus and Zulkefli face mandatory retirement later this year.

Additional judges under Article 122(1A) of the Federal Constitution are not constrained by the age limit.

Critics of the appointments say Article 122(1A) is not meant to be a backdoor to extend the tenure of the chief justice and Court of Appeal president beyond their mandatory retirement age.

Wan Azizah said she will also move to block the appointments through Parliament.

"I will also be moving a motion in the forthcoming sitting of Parliament calling for the extensions of service to be nullified.

"Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak must be stopped from continuing to destroy the independence of our country's judiciary," she said. - Mkini